Not A Bad Thing
by IceKeys121
Summary: Sometimes you fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time. And Juvia is about to realize that love will find her when she least expected it.
1. Let Me Borrow Your Heart

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

Summary: Sometimes you fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time. And Juvia is about to realize that love will find her when she least expeced it.

* * *

**Let Me Borrow Your Heart**

_Said all I want from you_

_Is to see you tomorrow_

_And every tomorrow_

_Maybe you'll let me borrow, your heart_

_And is it too much to ask for every Sunday?_

_And while we're at it throw in every other day to start_

Humming my favorite song, I walked up the steps to the arched entrance of Fairy Tail High. People were milling about on the lawns, holding their books, finishing homework. Almost every one of them waved at me as I passed by them. Blushing, I gave each one a brief smile, a nod, a casual wave of my hand. It was weird getting used to it. I had no idea how I had become so popular. I definitely wasn't the prettiest girl in school- Mira Strauss was. Yet, people looked up to me. A freshman girl with a name that meant rain, long blue hair, and dull blue eyes.

In all honesty, I wasn't all that special. I barely had two friends- MiraJane and Lisanna Strauss. Maybe the rise of my unclear popularity could be me making it into the swim team…But it wasn't like I was the captain or anything.

"Juvia!" A voice called out to my left, and I turned to see my petite best friend, Lisanna, bounce toward me from the lawn where she had been talking to Mira and some other students.

My face brightened at seeing her, my lips curling into a wide smile.

"Hi Lisanna," I said, hugging her.

"How're you?" Lisanna asked me, her smile equally sunny.

Before I was able to answer, a tall, dark haired boy caught my attention. Gray Fullbuster. He stood beside Natsu Dragneel, who already had Lisannna looking their way.

Sighing, I shook my head. I used to have a huge crush on Gray. But that was now all over. He had rejected me back in middle school for reasons I still did not know. Maybe I was just not his type. Or maybe he just wasn't looking for a relationship right now.

"Natsu!" Lisanna smiled at him, waving at him with bright cheeks.

Natsu grinned at her, returning the wave.

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I watched the pink hair boy walk away with Gray, who didn't even glance our way.

Lisanna pouted, folding her arms over her chest. "We aren't all as brave as you, Juvia." She looked down, playing with her short, silver hair. "Plus, he's one of my dearest childhood friends. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

I didn't say anything to that. Love wasn't something I was experienced in, and I had no good advice to give her. I knew she was in love with the pink haired idiot. She had always been. Just by the way she looked at him anybody would know… Well everyone but Natsu. Poor boy, he was just way too dense.

I've never been able to understand love. Isn't it strange how it can be the happiest thing ever, but also cause the most pain? And yet, everyone keeps searching for it. I've heard many people say they can't live without love… I think oxygen is more important.

"Have you ever wondered why we were only given one heart?" Lisanna suddenly asked as we made our way to the cafeteria.

I shrugged. "Not really… Why?" I asked, taking a seat beside Lisanna on one of the tables in the cafeteria.

"Well I was just thinking… We were given two hands to hold. Two legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. So why only one heart?"

"Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find." I looked up to find Mira grinning down at us. Lisanna nodded, looking as if she was trying to see if it made sense, as Mira sat beside me.

"Well, it could be that…" Lisanna muttered, crossing her arms over the table. "Or it could just be something a hopeless romantic came up with." Her eyes found Mira's smiling face before she sighed. "I give up."

"Lisanna you shouldn't be trying to find an explanation to love. Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. Just tell him how you feel. I'm sure he feels the same way. Take a leap in faith."

I sat quietly as I listened to them talk. Mira's words, for some weird reason, had caught my attention more than they should have. I had never fallen in love. I had had a crush on Gray, but it wasn't love. Yet, for the first time, love started to sound appealing to me.

"Loke, what are you doing?" Lisanna asked as Loke walked by our table with a camera in his hand.

"About to get on video the best shit that's ever happened in this fucken school." He grinned, adjusting his sunglasses as he prepared the camera.

I raised an eyebrow, following his gaze. People erupted into laughter all around me as Gray and his best friend came running into the cafeteria. A guy I have recently found a lot about.

Lyon Vastia was not the type of guy that believed in chivalry and helping old ladies across the street. He was more the type of guy that would make the pregnant lady stand while he sat smugly in his seat on the city bus. Lyon was definitely his own dimension of asshole, which explained what he was doing running stark naked through the school cafeteria with Gray.

From what I had heard, he'd been to juvy twice, made it a habit to engage in random sex with so many people, not necessarily one at a time, and had a mouth that made sailors look like saints.

It was only natural that I asked around and maintained a certain level of curiosity regarding his existence. He was quite the talk around most girls and I had wanted to know who he was.

I was supposed to have two classes with him, but he never showed. Granted, so far only one month of school had passed, but still, I suspected this was another habit of his he made a point to engage in.

Asking around, it hadn't been hard to find out plenty about him. Actually, the problem was more so that people had too much to say about Lyon Vastia. In a small town like this, people got bored, and when someone like Lyon came along, they gravitated to him like bees to honey. The lines between fact and fiction inevitably blur as rumors begin to fly around, eventually being exaggerated to ridiculous lengths. Needless to say, they hadn't been much help.

Staring up at him for the first time from my seat near the back of the school cafeteria, thought, I couldn't help but think no one had mentioned how ridiculously handsome he was. The fact that he was completely naked probably helped, I'll admit, but his face was almost distracting enough to keep my eyes from drifting down the rest of his body. Almost.

Lisanna blushed a deep red, her hands coming up to cover her eyes.

"Oh, my." Mira giggled.

My own cheeks were a deep red. I could feel all the heat rush to my cheeks. From what I could tell from across the room, Lyon had thick, bluish silver hair, most of which are spiky strands that jut upwards on top of his head, except for some which are kept pointing down and partially cover the upper left part of his face. And his body… well, let's just say it wasn't the heat that was making my face tomato red. He looked absolutely perfect, every inch muscle as he ran across the cafeteria, dawning a devilish grin like the cat that just ate the canary.

And then it happened, the moment that would forever immortalize me in Fairy Tail High School History, at least for the next four years. Lyon Vastia turned, our eyes meeting for a split second, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Fear was the first emotion to leave me speechless as he began to walk towards me, panic the next. Glancing behind me, I desperately hoped that he was looking at someone else, that I was imagining the whole thing and had somehow misread his stare. No such luck.

I forced my eyes to meet his own, if for no other reason than to keep them off of the rest of his naked body, as he came to stop in front of me.

And, unfortunately, I wasn't disappointed. Up close, he was even more devastating handsome than from far away. He had these amazing dark eyes. And, right now, unfortunately, they seemed to hold some odd control over my voice box, leaving me speechless as I opened my mouth and nothing came out. Lisanna seemed just as shocked as her eyes traveled back and forth from Lyon to me. Mira was smirking, obviously quite amused by it all.

For a second, the only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart beating a million miles per second in my chest. He had to hear it too, to see the perspiration gathering on my brow from the horrible cocktail of excitement and fear seeing him up this close and naked was triggering.

I vaguely registered the eyes of everyone else in the cafeteria on the two of us as well.

Why was he doing this? What did he want from me? I was nothing special… Well, at least I thought I wasn't.

"Lyon Vastia." He stated grinning down at me. "School troublemaker today, rising rock star tomorrow."

I raised an eyebrow, tempted to grin. Yet, I wasn't able to stop from curling my lips up into a small smile.

"Juvia Loxar." I said, my eyes never leaving his. And then, because I just couldn't help it, I continued, following his introduction. "Your everyday girl today, professional swimmer tomorrow."

Lyon peered down at her, a look of satisfaction spreading across his face. He chuckled, passing a hand through his stylish hair.

"Rain, eh? You've got quite an awesome name." I blushed. I had never liked my name, but at that moment I was glad my mother had named me that.

"Lyon! What the fuck are you doing? Hurry your fucking ass up!" Glancing over his shoulder, Lyon met the panicked gaze of Gray with a sharp one of his own. Dismissing his friend with a quick middle finger, Lyon whipped his head back around, focusing his gaze on me.

"Well, Juvia Loxar, hopefully I'll see you around very soon."

I blushed a deeper shade of red if possible. Taking a few steps backwards, he kept his eyes glued to mine before finally turning and following Gray out of the cafeteria.

"Oh my God!" Lisanna exclaimed. "What just happened?!"

Staring at the spot Lyon had been standing on seconds ago I realized I would most definitely see him around much more than I planned to. I had hoped he'd be wrong about the 'seeing you around' part. But somehow, I just knew that wouldn't be the case. I didn't particularly care for the way my mind flat lined around him, while my heart went into overtime and my sweat glands kicked into high gear.

Rumor had it, though, that when Lyon Vastia wanted something, he always got it. And, unfortunately, this was one of the few rumors I had heard about Lyon that I was willing to bet was true.

Sitting there, feeling the eyes of every person in the cafeteria on me, a wide grin formed in my lips. Sometimes we need to stop analyzing the past, stop planning the future, stop figuring out precisely how we feel, stop deciding exactly what we want, and just see what happens.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This story is a side story to my story Total Opposites, a GrayXLucy fanfic, which has some story line of this relationship. I came up with this fanfic as I wrote TO and decided it'd be nice to write the story of Juvia and Lyon. So if you haven't read Total Opposites you should check it out! Thank you so much for reading! Hopefully you liked it ;-)

Next two chapters coming soon!

Song: Not A Bad Thing is NOT mine! All rights go to the amazing Justin Timberlake! :-p And to the awesome songwriters!

IceKeys121


	2. Baby You're Worth It

**Baby You're Worth It**

The sight that welcomed me as I turned the corner on the second floor of Fairy Tail High School was not one I was at all prepared for. Since the last quite unexpected and rather unpleasant and altogether stressful encounter with the same person just days before in the cafeteria, I had had him in my mind quite a lot, now my mouth slightly agape by seeing him again.

It was lunch time at Fairy Tail High School, and I was just on my way to leave my books in my locker. Hugging my books to my chest tightly, I had struggled to fight off another unwanted flashback of the sight of Lyon Vastia streaking naked through the school cafeteria. It was beyond me how someone could drive any pleasure whatsoever by running anywhere, let alone a place where people would recognize you, with not even your underwear on to provide you at least an ounce of modesty. Of course, viewing the incident was a whole different thing completely, and admittedly not altogether unpleasant-

_Stop it, Juvia._

I scolded myself silently, disappointed by my conspicuous lack of resilience regarding Lyon Vastia and his nakedness.

And, I must admit, I suppose the fact that the subject of all my trouble had occupied most of my thoughts that morning hadn't proven to be very conductive to the situation. I had done my best to push Lyon Vastia to the back of my mind and focus on my schoolwork like any good student. The fact that I had been unsuccessful in doing so, however, had only frustrated me more.

Now, however, I found myself experiencing a completely different emotion, a mixture of utter shock and anger. Lyon Vastia was standing before me, holding the frame of a smaller student up against the wall by the collar. He'd been demanding his lunch money just as I'd rounded the corner, but had stopped mid-sentence the second he'd spotted me.

The poor, frail boy he was holding up by the collar looked absolutely terrified, his eyes begging me not to simply turn around and act as if I hadn't seen anything.

Perhaps I should have felt fearful, intimidated by the fact that Lyon could just as easily overpower me as he had the boy, but instead I found myself growing angrier by each second.

"Lyon, what are you doing?! Put him down, right now!"

I held my ground, pegging him with a hard stare as he cursed under his breath, slowly letting go of the smaller boy's collar and shoving him away. The boy stumbled forward, scurrying off in the opposite direction and rounding the corner without even a backwards glance.

"What in God's name were you doing?" I asked, obvious horror in my voice as I wrinkled my nose in disapproval.

Lyon straightened himself, a coy smirk on his face as he took a step towards me. "Exactly what it looked like. A guy's gotta eat."

I crossed my arms, making it obvious that I was less than satisfied with his response. "If you're that desperate for food, Lyon, I'll share my lunch with you. It's not acceptable for you to go around intimidating people into giving you their lunch money!"

Lyon shrugged, obviously not taking my words seriously. "You know, Juvia Loxar, I don't really like following the rules, or doing what is acceptable." He smiled. "I mostly do what I want."

I rolled my eyes. "I almost forgot, you're the troublemaker, right?"

Lyon raised an eyebrow, his smirk widening slightly as he moved forward till he was much too close for my personal preference. We were standing so close to touching that I could feel the warmth that was emanating off his body.

I shifted slightly and took a step back so that there was at least a foot of distance between the two of us.

To my horror though, Lyon took a step towards me so that he was again too close. I didn't like being this close to him, and I knew that my face was showing how flustered I was.

"If you wouldn't mind, would you so kindly take a step back. You seem to have a frequent problem with crowding others."

Lyon's eyes locked with mine, studying them for a minute before he took a step back.

"Yeah, well, I really only have that problem with you."

I forced myself not to contemplate the suggestions laced in his words, instead busying myself with opening my locker and putting away my books.

"You know what, though." Lyon said, the mischievous tone of his voice causing me to look up. I recoiled inwardly as I recognized the smile on his face as the same one he'd worn the first time I'd met him during his little streaking stunt. "I think I will take you on your offer for lunch. I'm not going to eat any of your food, though, but I could use a break from Gray and Loke."

I raised an eyebrow at him, slamming my locker shut. "What?"

"Well, per se, if someone was to, oh, I don't know, occupy my attention during lunch, I wouldn't have time to go around threatening people for lunch money."

A look of utter disbelief spread across my face as I realized what he was suggesting. "Are you actually threatening to victimize helpless boys if I don't agree to have lunch with you?"

A coy smile sneaked its way across Lyon's face as he tilted his head to the side. "Yes. That's_ exactly _what I'm doing. You see, unlike you, Juvia, I'm not the heroic type. I do what I have to to get what I want, period."

I opened my mouth to ask why in the world he would possibly want to have lunch with me, only to close it promptly. Doing so would only encourage whatever he was planning. Unfortunately, though, he seemed to have figured enough out about me to know that I couldn't simply say no and walk away from the morally perplexing situation he'd presented me with. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing some poor boy had been bullied because of me.

"Fine." I responded curtly, glaring up at him. "But, just so you know, I find your behavior absolutely deplorable."

Lyon laughed, shaking his head as he met my gaze. "I know. And I wouldn't expect anything less of you."

* * *

Lunch with Lyon Vastia was proving to be…rather interesting. The second we'd entered the school cafeteria, I could feel the eyes of most of its inhabitants on us. No doubt it did look suspicious, seeing as most people were still talking about our more than unusual meeting that had transpired in this very room.

Taking a seat across from me at one of the round tables, Lyon had declined any food I offered him, watching silently as I ate my sandwich.

"So, do you always try and play hero?" Lyon asked, resting his forearms on the table and staring over at me intently.

I shifted anxiously in my seat, feeling more than uncomfortable that I seemed to have somehow earned his undivided attention. However, after hearing his question, I straightened myself. "Excuse me?"

Lyon shook his head, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "I don't mean it as a bad thing. It's just, you don't seem like the type of girl that would have cared much about helping out that kid."

My mouth twitched slightly as I took another bite of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, avoiding his gaze as I focused my eyes on the table between us.

"Well, I do care. I'm definitely not the type of girl that would have just turned away and acted as if I hadn't seen anything."

I snuck a glance up at Lyon, flushing slightly as I realized his eyes hadn't left me.

A lazy smile tugged at the corners of Lyon's lips. "You know, that is exactly why I find you so different from most of these fuckers- I mean, people that go to this school."

I blinked, surprised by the strong disdain he had for the people, students, that came to Fairy Tail High.

"See, you and me, we may be different from one another, but we're also alike in a lot of ways. Most importantly, you're sitting here with me, even though you're the school's most popular girl and I am the school's troublemaker, I have nothing in common with most of the people we go to school with, yet, you're still here."

Lyon leaned back in his seat, the smile leaving his face as his eyes scanned the cafeteria.

Following his gaze, I noted for the first time that Lyon did, in fact, differ subsequently from most of the people here. He wore tight band tees and skinny jeans. However, the biggest difference was his attitude. He gave off an 'I don't care what anyone thinks about me' vive that I couldn't help but admire.

"You're different. You're like me. I don't know anyone else here that would have stood up for that kid back in that hallway when I was taking his lunch money. You did, though, because you don't do what everyone else does, you do what you think is right. And maybe that's not always the same as what I think, but that means you'll never become one of them."

I blinked, unable to hide the surprise spreading across my face. So this was why he'd taken such a keen interest in me.

"Is that why…" I flushed, recalling the first time I'd met Lyon in the cafeteria.

"Why I came over to you in my birthday suit?" Lyon asked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he finished my sentence. "Yeah. I'd been watching you for a little while. And then Gray and Loke came up to me and pitched the whole streaking idea to me, I figured it would be the perfect way to get your attention."

I choked down the piece of my sandwich I'd been chewing on, my eyes widening. "You did _that _for me?"

Lyon nodded, not a hint of modesty on his face as he tilted his head to the side. "Well it worked, didn't it? I'm sitting here with you right now."

For a second I stared at him, utter disbelief on my face before I did something that even surprised me. I laughed.

"You, Lyon Vastia, are positively unbelievable."

Lyon flashed me a toothy smile, one that I'd never seen him wear before as he leaned in slightly. "That's the first time I've ever heard you laugh…I like it. You should do it more often."

I flushed, wishing he didn't seem to have that effect on me so frequently.

* * *

_And I won't stop until you believe it_

'_Cause baby you're worth it_

I hummed the song as I stood in the shower and let my body turn to a prune.

By the time I stepped out of the shower, I was the last person in the locker room. Apparently, no one else on the girls' swim team found the showers to be as awesome as I did.

I quickly changed. When I checked my phone, I realized I had a text message from my mother.

_Sorry, Juvia, had to go to work. Catch a ride with a friend?_

I pursed my lips. My mother had told me she could pick me up after practice today, but she had been pretty busy lately so I guess I should have expected this.

There was no one left in the locker room, but if I hurry, I thought I might be able to catch one of the girls from the swim team in the parking lot for a ride home.

I grabbed my school bag and walked out of the locker room toward the parking lot.

It was only a couple of minutes later, though, when I heard the piano in the music room. I had to stop, because even though I was not good at music, I recognized good music when I heard it.

Whoever was playing played unbelievably well. I was just going to take a peek inside when I saw that it was Lyon.

I was surprised to see him there, but more surprised to watch him play. His fingers moved across the keys effortlessly, playing out each intricate note of the song, and I couldn't help but stop and listen.

It wasn't until the end of the song that I realized I was staring. He had suddenly looked up, right into my eyes, and I felt my face burn because he had caught me looking.

He smiled. "Juvia."

I cleared my throat and forced myself to hold eye contact. "You're pretty good," I muttered.

"He is, isn't he?" another voice came, from the back of the room, and I nearly jumped out of pure shock because I had not expected there to be someone else there with us.

I turned to look.

Loke was sitting on a stool behind a music stand in the back of the room and holding a guitar. He looked effortlessly cool, and I could understand now why so many girls had a crush on him.

"Lyon's pretty good, isn't he?" Loke continued, looking over at his friend. "Not much of a showoff though, so not many people know." The corner of his mouth curled up in amusement. "What a shame," he said.

Lyon was still looking at me, a grin already taking form on his lips. "I'm better at playing the guitar."

"You play the guitar?" I asked.

Lyon's eyes lit up, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Yeah, I've been playing since I could walk. That's how I met Loke here. We have a band-"

"A two men band. We still need a vocalist and a drummer." Loke sighed. "Gray plays the guitar pretty well, quite amazing if I'm being honest, but he's in so much shit that he never wants to join the band. And there's this new guy, he's tall and has long hair, he looks freaking scary but I heard he's quite good with the drums. I'm still trying to persuade both of them to join…"

"I don't think they'll be persuaded too easily." Lyon muttered. "They've both denied our offer countless of times."

Loke sighed again, playing with his guitar's strings.

Lyon looked at me again. "Did you just finish swim practice?"

"Yeah," I replied, and then rubbed my shoulder.

"Did Aquarius work you guys ridiculously?" Lyon asked, flashing me a smile. "She's a good coach, I've heard. But sometimes I think she lies awake at night thinking of new ways to drive her students and swimmers insane."

I smiled, "Oh yeah, I definitely felt out of shape today."

It was hard not to immediately like Lyon, I realized. There was something about his personality that was magnetic.

"So you guys are just here afterschool to practice music?" I asked.

"We're just hanging out for a bit," Lyon replied. He was looking at me, and there was something in his eyes that I could not quite decipher.

"Yeah, but I should be leaving now, cheer practice is about to start and I promised Aries I'd go." Loke said. His eyes brightened as he strapped his guitar to his back and grinned. "I'll see you guys later."

With that he left, leaving Lyon and me alone.

I looked up at the clock. 4:52 p.m.

Damn. I mentally cursed to myself. I had been so caught up talking to Lyon and Loke that I had not rushed to the parking lot like I should have, and now everyone was probably gone.

"Juvia?" Lyon's voice broke through my thoughts. "Do you have a ride home?"

I looked up at him. "No. My mom was supposed to come pick me up but she had work. Uh… I think I'll just walk home."

Lyon raised an eyebrow. "It's getting dark," he replied. "I'll drive you home."

"Thanks," I said. "But you don't have to go out of your way to drive me home."

Lyon paused for a moment, but then spoke again. "It's no problem. I've got nothing better to do."

I blinked, biting my lower lip.

"It's no bother at all, really," he told me again.

"Okay," I agreed. "Thanks."

As we walked towards his truck, I couldn't help the knots that formed inside my stomach.

Once we were both inside his truck, he started to back out of his parking spot. I tucked the stray strand of hair that fell out of my ponytail back behind my ear, my hair still damp from my shower.

I bit the inside of my cheeks. "Thanks for driving me home," I said, glancing at him out of the corners of my eyes.

"No problem."

I chewed the inside of my cheeks some more. "Nice weather," I said, then cringed internally. I was unreasonably nervous for no good reason, and now I was talking about the weather.

The corner of Lyon's mouth curled up, and for a moment he looked slightly amused.

"It is," he agreed. There was a pause, then, "Did you know there is a hill in the park next to where you live where you can see the entirety of Magnolia?"

I shook my head. "No, but now that you say it, I guess I've got to check it out sometime."

"What about now?"

I turned to stare at him. We were stopped at a red light, and Lyon took his eyes off the road to glance at me. There was just that slight hint of amusement in his eyes, but other than that, I couldn't read him at all.

I shrugged and tried to keep my cool. "Sure."

The corners of his mouth curled up again. "Alright then," he said, then turned back to look at the road.

We didn't speak for the rest of the ride. He pulled into the park next to my house. It was quite decently sized. There were a couple of lakes, a little stream, playgrounds, hills, trees, and picnic areas.

The day was gorgeous. I had rarely seen the sky so blue. We walked somewhere towards the middle of the park and then hiked up the hill that Lyon had mentioned.

There were no trees on the hill, just sprawling grass with wildflowers scattered about in it. I followed Lyon all the way up the dirt path to the top of the hill. The entire climb took maybe twenty minutes. When we got to the top, I saw that there was a single tree at the top of the hill with expansive branches that provided ample shade.

It was autumn. The leaves starting to turn orange and gold, but hadn't fallen off yet.

I looked up, shading my eyes against the sun, and I saw that Lyon had turned around. He wasn't looking at me though, but at the view behind me.

"Here it is," he told me.

I turned around, and my breath caught. It was a gorgeous view of the entire city. I could see the grass with the wildflowers on the hill beneath my feet. Beyond that, the city of Magnolia was sprawled out before me.

"Wow," I told Lyon, sitting down on the grass next to the tree. I leaned back against the trunk of the tree. It was a warm day, but the tree bark still felt cool. "It's gorgeous."

Lyon nodded, sitting down next to me. Our shoulders brushed, but neither of us drew away. For once, I didn't think he was doing it to put me on edge.

"You know, I ran here a couple of times before. It's a much larger park than I thought it would be." I said.

Lyon nodded, and then he slid down a little in the hill so he could lie flat on his back. He looked up at the sky. "I don't think people come here nearly as much as they should," he said. "It's always so empty. But then again, I don't think I would like it as much if it wasn't."

"Do you come here a lot?" I asked.

"Sometimes," he replied. "Mostly I just come to sit here to look at the sky and the view. I also come to play my guitar. I guess I use this place as a sort of escape from everything."

"Do you play well?"

He shrugged and then grinned. "You tell me."

I smiled. Now I wanted to hear him play even more. I knew he must be pretty good, if he said that he played the guitar better than he played the piano.

"I'm sure you do."

Lyon only looked at me and smiled enigmatically before closing his eyes. I peered out at the scene before me once again. Snaking a glance at Lyon, it occurred to me that we may just have become friends. But I wasn't entirely sure.

I turned towards Lyon, who still had his eyes closed, and I couldn't help but ask.

"Hey Lyon?"

He opened one eye to glance at me. "Hmm?"

"Are we friends?"

Lyon's breath caught in his throat, his eyes locking with mine for a split second.

After a moment, though, Lyon cracked a crooked smirk.

He sat up. "Well, yeah. It's not like you make it hard. Maybe if you weren't so fucking cute."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't stop the silly smile tugging at the corners of my lips. I suppose the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach or the way my heart skipped a beat in its usual pitter patter didn't exactly help the situation. Honestly, though, I really couldn't help it. No one had ever called me cute before.

I giggled. "You think I'm cute?"

Lyon smiled. "Of course. I've always have. Ever since the first time I saw you. It's crazy, because I don't even know when you became so important to me. It's like watching a snowstorm. You see the flakes falling, but you don't realize how they're adding up. Then suddenly, your whole lawn is covered. All these little things have added up, and you're my snowstorm, Juvia."

The blush on my face only reddened as I risked glancing up at him. His eyes were intently focused on me, his gaze unfaltering as he studied my features for some sort of reaction.

"B-but we've just met." I stuttered.

He grinned. "Yeah, well, that day at the cafeteria wasn't my first time seeing you. It was back in middle school. I'd always see you with your friend, Lisanna, sitting under a tree. You were always so quiet but you never acted or did what everybody else did. You know, I was quite surprised when you became so popular. I don't mean it as a bad thing, it's just, you don't seem like the type of girl that likes getting much attention. During middle school, when you confessed to Gray, that's when I realized I really liked you. I was just about to give up on you but Gray told me he didn't feel the same way. He thought you deserved better. Well, I'm no better than Gray. But I sure as hell have this huge crush on you."

I flushed, smiling as I looked over at him.

Lyon smiled back. "You've got a smile that could light up this whole town, you know?"

I blushed and looked away.

I turned out liking Lyon Vastia a lot more than I originally planned.

As months passed, Lyon and I became closer. Most days he'd wait for me after practice and drive me home. Every other day we'd eat together. And some days, I'd watch him and Loke play their guitar, which they were both great at.

We became great friends. Closer than I would have ever imagined. And as time went by, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I didn't know where I stood with him. And I didn't know what I meant to him. All I knew was that every time I thought of him, all I wanted to do was be with him.

"So you feel butterflies when you're with him?" Lisanna asked me by the phone as I walked down the hallway, towards my locker. Lisanna was still at her house, she was running late, like always.

"Yeah," I muttered, sighing.

Lisanna giggled. "You know, when I'm with Natsu I feel the entire zoo in my stomach, but that's only because I like him- Wait! Do you like Lyon!?"

I sighed loudly, a dark blush already covering my cheeks. "I…" I stopped. Did I like Lyon? I couldn't stop thinking about him. It killed me just to imagine him with anybody else. And that's how I knew that I had fallen for Lyon Vastia.

I smiled. "Yeah. A lot, actually."

Lisanna was laughing. She let out a sigh before saying, "I can't believe it! Juvia- chan likes someone!"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't call me that." I muttered.

I just knew she was smirking.

"You know," Lisanna started, with a much more serious tone. "If you like someone, if they make you happy and if you feel like you know them, don't ever let them go."

I smiled. "Thank you."

And that's when I saw him, leaning in front of my locker.

A smirk played on Lyon's lips as he waved at me.

"I'll talk to you later, Lisanna."

"What? Wait! Is he there? Juvia! Don't-"

I ended the call and dropped my phone in my bag.

I don't know why, but I felt so nervous as I walked towards him. My arms and legs shaking as I stopped in front of him.

"Hey." I said.

"Hi, Juvia."

"Are you having band practice today with Loke?" I asked as I opened my locker.

"About that," Lyon said, scratching the back of his neck. "Gray has finally joined the band as one of our guitarists and as our lead singer."

I looked up at him, a wide grin taking form on my lips. "Really?! That's great, Lyon!" I was so excited that I ended up hugging him.

At first I didn't even register what I was doing, not until I felt him wrap his arms around me.

One of the best feelings in the world is when you hug someone you love, and they hug you back even tighter.

"I'm sorry," I muttered as I stepped away from him, flustered by my actions.

"What are you sorry for?" Lyon asked, a grin slowly forming on his lips.

"Because I like you." I thought.

Lyon's eyes widened.

Closing my locker after I grabbed my books for first, I turned towards Lyon as I bit my lower lip.

"I should start heading to first." I mumbled, starting to move away from Lyon but he stopped me. He grabbed my hand before I could run off to first.

My eyes widened as I turned to look at him. And his next words took my breath away.

"Go out with me."

I blinked, not sure that I had heard right.

"Wha…?" I sputtered. My brain was not catching up right now. I stared at Lyon. Briefly I registered that the girl whose locker was next to mine was gaping at him too, totally shocked, but I must have looked like a fish also.

"Go out with me," he repeated, slowly but fiercely. His gaze was intense, and it never left my face.

"I…huh?" I still could not respond properly, wondering what exactly had just happened.

But Lyon didn't repeat himself again. Instead, I found myself pressed up against the lockers the next moment, and Lyon's lips were on mine.

I could hear the surprised gasps of the crowd that had gathered around us, but for now, all that I was really aware of was the feeling of Lyon's lips against mine as he kissed me deeply and fiercely.

He didn't need to repeat himself. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned in. For now, I'll just let that kiss do all the talking.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as we both drew back, trying to catch our breaths. That was one heck of a kiss.

I was vaguely aware that everyone around us was watching. That the murmurs were growing louder by the second, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Lyon. Had he really said what I think he did?

Lyon was looking at me with a smile on his face from our kiss, but even in that smile, I could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

"Go out with me?" he repeated, the smile fading as he waited for my answer.

I looked back at him. I knew by the way he was looking at me that he was serious. He meant it. There was that uncertainty now reflected in his voice again, and underneath that uncertainty, I realized with a jolt, was nervousness.

In all the times that I've spent with Lyon, I've never seen him nervous. It was also strange to think that I was the reason for this. That he was nervous because he was waiting for my answer.

I bit back a grin. "Yes."

Lyon grinned. "Yes?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes, suddenly feeling shy and giddy at the same time. "Yes! Don't make me say it again."

He chuckled too. I had always thought Lyon was attractive, but I don't think he had ever been as handsome to me as he was in that moment. Then, without really thinking about it, I moved forward and kissed him on the mouth.

I fell in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time. But I guess that is what makes it so amazing. The best relationships usually begin unexpectedly.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed the first chapter of Not A Bad Thing!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading. Please don't forget to review! I love to read what you all thought of the chapter.

Song: Not a Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake

-IceKeys121


	3. Don't Act Like It's a Bad Thing

**Don't Act Like It's a Bad Thing **

I sucked in the insides of my cheeks after the fifth person greeted me with an enthusiastic "Good morning, Juvia!" as I passed her on the stairs up to the school. I had never spoken to her before. Sometimes I really couldn't stand this school. The school obeyed the rules of the social hierarchy so well that it wasn't unusual. I had become popular out of nowhere, and up until now, my last few days as a freshman, I still haven't gotten used to it.

Angel Sorano had been voted the cheerleading captain just a few days ago. Though I didn't know her well, I did know she was one of the best cheerleaders this school had. I saw Lisanna in the midst of a swarm of giggling girls dressed in their cheerleading uniforms as my dad pulled up to the school to drop me off that morning. Out of all of them, she was probably the only one not giggling. She was instead looking over at Natsu, who stood by the basketball team, with their new captain, Sting Eucliffe. I had heard plenty about him, cocky guy who had girls swooning all over him and, surprisingly, a great basketball player. Lisanna had stated before that she believed Natsu to be better, but that was her own opinion, she being in love with the guy and all.

But neither that nor students greeting me all morning was really unexpected. I was expecting all of this. Well, except me getting voted as the swim team's captain. Being popular was not something I was good at, not like Sting Eucliffe and Angel Sorano were. They emitted power and confidence, something I still lacked.

In class, people seemed to clamor to sit next to me. It was crazy. Back in middle school, it was just Mira, Lisanna and me, but I was never the it girl before. It had gotten worse, though. Now, being the swim team's captain, more people came up to me. And, well, with Lyon's public confession in the hallway, people now knew of us. That little scene had gotten us enough attention and the news spread faster than I had imagined it would. Though we were both quite well known in school, Lyon wasn't known for anything good, that bringing false rumors into our relationship. But I wasn't distressed by any of them.

When I arrived in math class, I took my usual spot, next to Aries. She has long, curly pink hair and browned eyes. She was extremely shy and she's always with Angel. Wherever Angel is at, Aries is right beside her. They're like best friends.

"Hey," she said with a light smile as I sat down. "So… W-what h-happened last week? Did Lyon really ask you out?" she bit her lip. "Sorry if I'm being too noisy!"

I laughed. "It's okay. You don't have to apologize." She smiled. I was slightly surprised that she asked. I thought word had spread all over school by now. But, rumors are spreading in school all the time, and this could be just another fake rumor going around school.

"Oh," I said. "Lyon…he, uh…he" I trailed off, suddenly feeling my cheeks heat up. I don't know why I had suddenly turned shy. I just couldn't say it.

Aries' eyes widened. "He really did ask you out?" she asked, clasping her hands over her mouth and staring at me.

I nodded, still unnaturally embarrassed for some reason.

"Oh my goodness," Aries said drawing in a breath and still staring at me in wonder. "Geez, Juvia. That's what I thought I heard from what everyone's been saying around school this morning but I wasn't sure…Geez Juvia."

She laughed a little, but still seemed to be in awe. I laughed too, but it was mostly because I felt awkward from how much she was staring.

"So…a-are you Lyon's girlfriend now?" she asked.

I bit my lip. Lyon's girlfriend. The word _girlfriend _bounced around in my head. It sounded so foreign and so strange.

"I don't know," I finally muttered. "We're still hammering things out. We'll see how it all goes, I guess."

I laughed again, wishing she would stop looking at me in wonder, and to my relief she changed the subject.

"Have you heard that Angel was voted as the cheer team's captain?!" she asked and then grinned.

I nodded just as our math teacher hushed the class and started his lesson.

When I arrived at the cafeteria I was glad to find that most of the students' attention was on Sting and Angel, who weirdly enough, had entered the cafeteria together. I wondered for a second if they were maybe dating, or if that was their way of getting even more attention of what they already got.

"Juvia," I briefly registered Lyon saying my name as I scanned the cafeteria again, looking for Lisanna and Mira.

"Juvia!" he said a bit louder, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I turned around and smiled as soon as my eyes met his.

"Hey," I said.

Lyon smiled back, guiding me over to a table. We sat down and finally noticed the curious glances being sent our way from the people sitting near us.

"Ignore them; they've got nothing better to do." Lyon told me.

I nodded and opened my mouth to say something, but just then, Lisanna slid in on the seat in front of us.

"Hey guys!" She said with a bright smile as she propped her chin up on her hands. Sometimes I wondered if anything would ever get Lisanna down. But just as that thought crossed my mind, I saw Natsu out of the corner of my eyes looking over at us from a nearby table. I raised an eyebrow. There was something about Natsu, something I could never pin point, which made me feel like he would end up doing something to hurt Lisanna. I knew he was dense, and maybe a little too childlike for his age, immature was the right word. But deep down I knew sooner or later Lisanna would confess, and I was scared for Natsu's reaction.

Lisanna, however, had her back towards Natsu and remained cheerful.

"So…" she said with an all too knowingly grin at us. "About time."

I could feel my face heat up again, but Lyon only laughed from beside me.

Lisanna laughed too, and even I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Gosh, Lyon," she said with a playful roll of her eyes. "I was wondering when you would stop being ridiculous and ask Juvia out."

"He only did because I accidently told him I liked him first," I said with a scoff.

Lyon gave me a pointed look. "Oh, I did everything but write it on a sign and hold it in front of you," he said. I turned away with a grin while Lisanna laughed.

"I told you we should have made a sign," Loke joked as he slid on the seat beside Lisanna. Gray nodded at us as he sat beside Loke.

Lyon chuckled and nodded. "I guess that would have been my last option."

Lisanna then turned towards Lyon and patted his arm. "Don't break her heart," she joked with a grin. "There are about twenty more guys ready to pounce if you do. It'll get soo messy. I don't want to have to see that."

I laughed and I turned to see Lyon looking down at me with a grin. "I won't." He said and I blushed, looking down at the table.

Lisanna was soon busy talking to Loke and Gray, she was smiling as she said something to Gray, who in returned grinned and nodded, letting Loke be the talkative one.

Lyon held my hand from under the table and I blushed. He was grinning as he talked to Loke and Lisanna.

I suddenly felt someone looking at me and looked up to see Gray staring at me. He grinned. "It's about time." He said as he stared at Lyon and me. I smiled a little to myself.

"It is." I answered and he chuckled.

* * *

"Freshmen year went by fast." Lyon stated from beside me.

I nodded, and then shielded my eyes from the sun with my hand, remembering everything that had happened the past few months as I looked up through the overreaching branches of the oak tree above me.

Lyon and I were at the park by my house. It was the second weekend of June, and it had been quite warm over the past few days. We were lying underneath the tree at the top of the hill in the park next to my house.

"Lisanna mentioned Loke had told her that you guys finally convinced the guy you wanted to join the band, the drummer, to join the band…" I said, trailing off as I stared at him. "How has it been with the band?"

For a long time, Lyon didn't reply. In fact, he was silent for so long that I turned and looked at him. "It's been okay, I guess," he muttered. "Gajeel is a great drummer. He's got quite an attitude but he's fun. It's just, both he and Gray like to get in so much shit that I feel like I'm the only mature one, when actually I'm anything but mature."

I grinned. "That's true." He glared at me and I laughed. I rolled over on my side and opened one eye to look at him. He was looking up at the sky with a pensive look on his face. I wondered what he was thinking, but I couldn't prompt him for an answer.

When he finally rolled over so that he was lying on his side and we were face to face, he said softly, "We're having our first concert next weekend…Do you wanna go?"

I smiled and nodded. He grinned.

"You know," Lyon said, his voice suddenly tinted with a hint of playfulness. "You owe me."

I frowned at him, not understanding. He was grinning.

"What do I owe you?" I said cautiously, with a frown.

"A dinner," he replied. "You ran out on me the last time we were supposed to have one together."

I blushed at his words. I remembered that day all too well. It had been back when we were still just friends. He had asked me out after school to go for dinner, but I had swim practice that day and wouldn't be finishing until late that night. I had been so flustered at his question that I had ran away after telling him I wouldn't be able to go.

"Actually, now that I think about it, you owe me two dinners," Lyon went on, his grin getting wider as he saw how flustered I had become. That jerk. "The first time we were supposed to eat dinner together, we got interrupted by Lisanna."

I blinked, not realizing what he had meant. Then I remembered. My dad had invited Lyon to stay and eat with me the first time he had stayed after driving me home. We were supposed to eat leftover Italian food from my fridge. That dinner had been interrupted by Lisanna's phone call. She had invited us to come over to her house to have dinner with her and Mira instead.

Well aware that my face was very red by this point and that the growing amusement was flickering in Lyon's eyes, I glared at him. "Neither of those were my fault," I declared.

He laughed a deep, soothing laugh that made me shiver. "Oh, I think the second one was definitely your fault," he said, reaching over and resting his hand on the side of my body where it dropped above my hips as I was lying on my side, facing him. Over the past week, he had put his arm around me and held my hand and even kissed me quite a few times, but I don't think I could ever get used to his touch. His hand had somehow found that bit of bare skin above my jeans where my cardigan had shifted up slightly, and I could feel my skin tingling from the contact.

"So what do you say, Juvia?" Lyon asked with another smile as he leaned forward. "Will you let me take you out on an actual date?"

I could barely hold my gaze with him as he leaned closer and closer until his nose was almost touching mine. It made me feel flustered and giddy all at once, but I was determined to continue glaring at him. I hated how flustered I got around him, but Lyon seemed to find that all quite amusing.

"Fine," I breathed out, my heart hammering in my chest because he was so close to me.

Lyon's lips curled. "Good," he said smugly, and then he leaned in to kiss me.

It was a pretty steamy kiss that totally caught me off guard because we were in a public park. For goodness sakes, we were on top of a hill. Anybody could see us.

"Lyon!" I gasped as he drew back. I could barely breathe from that. He was tracing circles with the pad of his thumb on the side of my stomach, and it was taking all my willpower to get my next words out coherently. "We're in the middle of the park. There are kids here!"

Lyon only chuckled and then glanced around lazily. There was no one around us. I could hear kids screaming and giggling in the distance, but they must all be further down in the park, where the playgrounds and soccer fields were. I guess we were the only ones that felt like trekking up this far today.

"Oh, there's no one around," he said languidly. Then, before I could make another protest, he leaned in and kissed me again.

It was impossible to resist. I couldn't help but nudge in closer to him and wrap my arms around his neck. It was absolutely intoxicating to kiss him.

I gasped into his mouth when I felt his hand slide further up the side of my stomach, underneath my cardigan and my shirt. I could feel the tips of his fingers brushing the bottom of my ribcage. It was setting my skin on fire to feel him touching me as he deepened the kiss, but it was the touch that unclouded my brain for just a moment.

I pushed against his chest and drew back.

Lyon looked at me curiously, surprised. His breathing was pretty ragged from that kiss, but he only continued to look at me, waiting for me to say something.

"We're in a park," I finally breathed out, turning away in embarrassment.

I couldn't see Lyon's face, so I couldn't tell if he knew that that wasn't really what I was trying to say. I had felt his fingers slide up the side of my body, and I had been nervous. It had been a thrilling and relatively innocent touch, but I didn't know what he would have done if I didn't stop the kiss. I knew Lyon was definitely the more experienced of the two of us. He was the first guy I had ever kissed, the first guy that had ever asked me out. I really had never done anything with a guy before, and it made me nervous because I wasn't sure what Lyon expected, because I was sure he had done more with the girls he had dated before me than just kissing.

But I didn't know what to say. _Hey, I haven't really done anything, so really, if we could just discuss what kind of things we're both comfortable with…_

I cringed internally. Was this how you were supposed to go about dating someone? I felt so clueless sometimes.

Looking back at Lyon, though, I saw that thoughtful look was again back in his eyes.

After a few seconds, he asked lightly. "Have you ever dated anyone before?"

I stared at him. Did he really just read me that easily?

"No," I answered truthfully, wondering just what he thought. That I was too inexperienced? "No I haven't."

For a long moment, Lyon didn't reply. He only continued to look at me.

"So I'm the first?" he finally asked.

I bit my lip and nodded, watching his face carefully and trying to read his expression so I could know just what he was thinking.

Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows just a little bit and smiled. Then he gave me a quick peck on my forehead. When he drew back, he was positively grinning.

"Thank goodness," he said, smiling at me. "I would hate the thought of you kissing anyone else."

That response was so unexpected that I laughed out loud. But then, Lyon suddenly drew back and looked at me quite seriously.

"So," he said somberly, "Nothing with Gray?"

I laughed, but then stopped once I realized that Lyon was not smiling.

"Are you actually serious?" I stared at him, incredulous.

He sighed. "I mean, you did confess to him back in middle school," he said, trailing off. "I know Gray would probably never make a move on you, but I mean is, you used to like him, right?"

I looked at him. "Well, yeah, but that was back in middle school, before he rejected me."

When Lyon didn't say anything, I looked at him thoughtfully. "You know, Gray's actually the one who told me you liked me," I said.

Lyon's eyes widened in surprised. "He told you that?"

I thought about it. "Well, not exactly," I corrected myself. "After you invited me to eat with you and your friends for the first time, he told me that you never did that, so I must be something special. And one time I mentioned that you didn't care about me, and he told me not to be so oblivious."

The look on Lyon's face told me that this was news to him.

"You know, if it wasn't for what he said, I don't think I would have ever realized how much I liked you," I said, realizing as I said the words that it was true. It was partly due to Lisanna's encouragement, and also partly due to what Gray told me.

"Huh," Lyon mused. "I should really thank him then."

"You should," I teased. "He also told me that you only stayed after school to drive me home after practice."

Lyon scoffed. "I should take back the thanks, then," he muttered.

I laughed, but then sobered up quickly. "Why'd you do that?" I asked him.

He propped his head up to look over at me. "I wanted to drive you home," he said with a light smile.

I stared. "Really? You did that just because you wanted to go out of your way to send me home after school every day?"

"Is it so hard to believe?" he replied softly, looking into my eyes.

I bit back a smile, suddenly embarrassed again.

"You know, I'm your first, but you're also mine." He said softly, looking into the distance across the tops of the trees in the park. The sun was beginning to set. It cast a red glow on the already fall colored leaves. I could feel a slight breeze pass through.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "You said yourself that there was-

"But you're different," he was still looking out into the distance, now with a slight smile on his face. "You're the first girl I really felt this way about."

I didn't know what to say to that. Instead, I shifted closer to him so that we were both now sitting up, leaning our backs against the trunk of the oak tree. My knees were propped up, and Lyon put a hand lightly on my left knee, absentmindedly drumming his fingertips while we watched the sun set.

Finally, he stood up. Reaching out a hand towards me, he smiled.

"Come on, Juvia," he said. "It's getting late. I don't want your parents to hate me for hogging you all day."

"Oh they don't mind," I muttered, placing my hand in his and letting him pull me up to my feet. It was true; my parents were thrilled when they heard that I was hanging out with Lyon for the day. They liked Lyon from that brief encounter they had that one time he drove me home and walked me to the door. "Plus, they're not even home tonight. They're out on a business trip."

Lyon raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh?" he quipped. "So what are you doing for dinner?"

I shrugged. "Probably leftovers."

"Want to come to my house?" he asked, and then smiled. "You owe me two, remember?"

I smiled. "Are we going to cook?"

"We could," Lyon said. "Ultear is usually the one that cooks around the house, so we could help her get something ready."

"Ultear? She's your older sister, right?"

Lyon nodded. "She's my adoptive mother's daughter. She actually graduated from Fairy Tail a year ago. Both Gray and I have seen her as our sister ever since Ur adoptive us."

I smiled.

"Hmm," I murmured. "How about we have that dinner tomorrow? I told Lisanna I would meet her at her house later tonight. She invited me over for a slumber party."

"Okay," he said simply. "Then I'll see you tomorrow?"

I smiled back. "See you tomorrow."

I raised my hand to wave at him. I was always so awkward about this type of stuff. Were we supposed to hug or something?

To my surprise, Lyon took my hand and gave me a tug so that I was pulled towards him. I yelped in surprise as I went tumbling closer to him and only caught myself when I braced both of my hand against his chest.

Looking up, I glared at him, only to catch that familiar look of amusement flickering in his eyes.

"I'll look forward to it, Juvia," he breathed softly in my ear.

I could almost hear my heart pound. His lips were so close to mine that I could feel my eyelids droop out of anticipation. I leaned forward, just ever so slightly.

To my surprise, Lyon drew back and grinned at me.

He stepped back. "I'll pick you up," he said, still grinning.

I glared at him. Oh, he did that on purpose. But he only laughed as he gave me a wave goodbye and we parted ways.

Only when I had turned away to walk off back towards my house did I allow myself to grin. I put my fingers to my lips and laughed a little. If I had known I would get to this point with Lyon during our first encounter at the cafeteria, I would have never believed it. I just couldn't act like it was a bad thing to fall for Lyon Vastia because it wasn't, it was the complete opposite. Falling in love is like the rain. You can't predict it, but you can always see a sign of it before it completely falls.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading. Please don't forget to review! I would love to read what you all thought of the chapter! **

**-IceKeys121**


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